The Psychic Triangle refers to the ambiguous territory between humans, the natural
world, and the designed world. Through
various forms of design such as object making, resource extraction, and designed systems of power, humans have assumed an
outsize role in shaping the natural world
while simultaneously awakening to a destructive aftermath. The artists in The Psychic Triangle are exploring the unfamiliar
terrain where distinctions between nature
and design dissolve into one another. From
this uncertain place their diverse studio
practices are mining a new consciousness;
one that is defined by the inseparable coupling of power and anxiety.
Matthew Jensen, Jeremy Miranda,
and Joey Weiss use surrogate figures to
articulate the alien qualities of natural and
designed spaces. In The Return, Matthew
Jensen depicts a plant growing atop a
mossy beige carpet, within a Coast Guard
barrack that has been uninhabited for over
a decade. Its leaves stand at attention beneath a hole in the ceiling where water
seeps through. Jeremy Mirandaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s painting,
Dead of Winter, also imbues plants with
figurative qualities. Set in an environment
that is formally divided between an outside
seascape and a minimal modern interior,

the plants bask under the orange glow
of a heat lamp. The plants’ dependence
on an artificial sun mirrors the ways that
human survival is also wrapped up in designed objects. Alternating between night
and day, interior and exterior, Joey Weiss’
video Shadow McDonalds offers a poetic creation myth for prosaic spaces. Set
against various shadows, the block walls,
trimmed shrubs, and mismatched chairs
that populate Shadow McDonalds take on
a character that transcends both nature
and design.
Jenn Kahn and Natalia Zubko reconstruct the natural world by using designed objects as sculptural material. Jenn
Kahn’s work, Pack of Gray Standing Wolf,
features a horizontal arrangement of identical porcelain wolf figurines atop a floorlevel plinth. Huddled together in a long
line with chests pointed out, these symbols
of the wild are in silent confrontation with
the viewer. Through Kahn’s installation the
wolves reclaim their iconic power while occupying a vulnerable position at the viewer’s feet. Natalia Zubko’s Cabinet of Little
Systems displays small Haeckel-like specimens made of everyday materials. Circles
collected from paper hole punches are
carefully arranged like fish scales. Q-tips
are intricately woven into a semi-circular
dome reminiscent of coral. Zubko’s works
quietly allude to the ways that discarded
human objects are transforming the natural world.
Both Caleb Nussear and Kelly Lynn
Jones depict sublime skies interrupted by

4

technological objects. In Drones II, Caleb
Nussear’s sometimes-blurry mountains
channel the history of Romanticism into
a virtual landscape surveyed by drones.
While the aerial perspective reveals a particular orientation to the landscape, it is
unclear if the image is translated from the
site itself, or from a digital feed thousands
of miles away. Through a process of mark
making and erasing, Nussear’s graphite
drawing articulates the inherently nebulous qualities of drones, which augment
the physical presence of humans in the
air while surveying and enacting violence
against those on the ground. Kelly Lynn
Jones’ 1986 is an arrangement of found
images of the Challenger launch layered
on top of each other in a column. The blue
hues are reminiscent of the New York sky
that was present on September 11, 2001.
For those who witnessed these events the
sky is no longer a thing unto itself but also
a backdrop to human experiences.
The Psychic Triangle is an evolving territory where the human scale is in
constant flux. At a time when natural gas
mining is causing small earthquakes and
mechanical levees are promoted as a salve
for rising tides, humans are caught in a
paradox between dominance and vulnerability. For the artists in this exhibition, this
particular consciousness represents both
a strange condition and an opportunity.
In approaching this terrain from various
perspectives, they resist declarations and
locate the self amid ideas and forms once
thought to be separate.

With sincere gratitude to Dr. David Brody,
Professor and Director of the MA History
of Decorative Arts Program at Parsons
The New School for Design, and Dr. Clive
Dilnot, Professor of Design Studies in the
School of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons The New School for Design,
for generously offering feedback in the development of this exhibition.

NURTUREart Non-Profit, Inc is a 501(c)3
New York State licensed federally tax-exempt charitable organization founded in
1997 by George J. Robinson.
NURTUREart receives support from the New
York City Department of Cultural Affairs,
including member item funding from City
Council Members Sara Gonzales, Stephen
Levin, and Diana Reyna, the New York City
Department of Education, and the New York
State Council on the Arts.
NURTUREart is also supported by
the Harold and Colene Brown Foundation,
Edelman, the Golden Rule Foundation, the
Greenwich Collection, Ltd., the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Milton and Sally Avery
Arts Foundation, the Walentas Family Foundation, and the Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason
Foundation.
We receive in-kind support from
Brooklyn Brewery, Societe Perrier, Tekserve,
and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
NURTUREart is grateful for significant past support from the Andy Warhol
Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Liebovitz
Foundation, and the Greenwall Foundation,
and to the many generous individuals and
businesses whose contributions have supported us throughout our history. Finally,
we would like to acknowledge the artists
who have contributed works of art to past
benefitsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;our continued success would be
impossible without your generosity.

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56 Bogart Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206
L train to Morgan Avenue
T 718 782 7755
F 718 569 2086
E gallery@nurtureart.org
www.nurtureart.org
Directions:
By Subway:
L train to the Morgan Avenue stop.
Exit the station via Bogart Street.
Look for the NURTUREart entrance
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By Car:
Driving From Manhattan: Take the
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outside lane, and take the Broadway
/ S. 5 St. exit. Turn left at light onto
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